Traditionally, businesses have stored their digital content items (e.g., documents, files, and other digital information) on network file servers they own and operate. Such file servers are typically located on-premises behind a network firewall that prevent unauthorized network access to the file servers. This arrangement works well when most or all of the network access to the file server is by computers that are also behind the network firewall such as, for example, connected to the same Local Area Network (LAN) as the file server. In some cases, network access to the file server from outside the firewall (e.g., over the Internet) is facilitated by a Virtual Private Network (VPN). The VPN, in effect, makes a computer outside the firewall appear to the file server as if it is behind the firewall.
Today, however, the workforce is more global and more mobile. This is spurred, in large part, by the wide availability of broadband Internet connectivity and also the availability of relatively inexpensive, yet powerful, portable personal computing devices such as, for example, mobile phones, laptop computers, and tablet computers. The result is employees can work virtually anywhere and do not need to be physically present in the office to get their work done (e.g., they can work remotely).
Recently, online content management services have become available for storing content items “online” where they are accessible on the Internet or other network. A business can use an online content management service to “host” their content items on servers operated by the service. One example of an online content management service is the “Dropbox” service provided by Dropbox, Inc. of San Francisco, Calif.
Online storage of content items can provide a number of benefits to businesses and their employees alike. Dropbox, for instance, offers the ability to synchronize and share hosted content items among multiple devices and users. This flexibility, which stems from storing content items both at end-user devices and on Dropbox servers, supports a variety of different on-site and remote working arrangements, providing convenience to employees and increased employee productivity for employers.
Given the increasing amount of digital information generated by businesses, hosting of content items by businesses with online content management services can only be expected to increase. However, due to the sensitive nature of some of the hosted information, users of such services, including business users, would appreciate improvements to the services that provide a greater level of control over the content items they host with the services. In addition, while broadband Internet connectivity is pervasive among businesses today, uploading and downloading content items over the Internet can still take longer than users expect or desire.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, it should not be assumed that any of the approaches described in this section qualify as prior art merely by virtue of their inclusion in this section.